A knock-down, drag-out steel cage death match erupted recently between Nevada County Scooper and the proprietor of Sierra FoodWineArt in the safe confines of the blogosphere, capturing the attention of a disbelieving audience of Nevada County thrill seekers.

The bitter exchange of threats, insults and other verbal nonsense was triggered by a column written by yours truly in The Union in which I discussed the attitude of techies toward the homeless. The column was inspired in part by the observation by Jeff “Podunk” Pelline, proprietor of an alleged magazine that promotes the interests of his advertisers, that a facility to feed the homeless has opened near the Digital Media Center (since renamed the Green Screen Institute).

I gave him credit for the observation, but Podunk dismissed it as just throwing him a bone in a blog post headlined “What would The Union do without this blog?” He whined that I should have mention the full name of his blog and provided a hyperlink to his “scoop.” (If I ever give him credit again, I may also include a color mug shot and a list of the fine retailers who stock his “magazine.”)

That prompted a response from Delaney Faris of Nevada County Scooper: “What would your blog do without The Union?” Faris was referring to Podunk’s obsession with any real or imagined errors or transgressions in The Union, which he then points out with as much faked outrage as he can muster.

Podunk shot back with a poke at the “family-unfriendly” sponsored content carried by Scooper, prompting the following from Faris: “You’re going to pick on a satire rag? We own your ass. Bring it on.”

“You’re a flea bite on the ‘you know what’,” Podunk replied, then followed with school boy taunts like “NC Pooper” and “Scooper: Sometimes humor.” You know, the kind of sophisticated repartee you expect from a rhetoric student at UC–Berkeley.

Scooper is a satirical online site that pokes fun at the foibles and idiocy of life in general, and Nevada County in particular. Scooper’s pictures and headlines tend to promise more than the articles deliver, but they occasionally run an article that is both funny and hits the bulls-eye, like the Board of Supervisors declaring war on the outdoors. Scooper makes no pretense of being factual or fair, but it’s usually good for a laugh.

That’s more than you can say for Sierra FoodWineArt, chock full of sponsored content. Podunk would have you believe that he applies professional journalism standards to coverage of food, frolic and booze in Nevada County. In fact, he is pedaling skepticism-free cheer leading for the businesses that advertise in his magazine.

3 Responses to Nevada County Scooper vs. Sierra FoodWineArt: Who’s the best at fake journalism?

Oh George…..now I’m going to have to start reading through your archives….this stuff is wonderful!

In case you’re interested….from the typographical error front.

Hurry to jeffys if you want to see this error in the wild….these things are memory holed so quickly at the site of The Nations Editor!

A former college at CNET welcomes President Obama to London this week

Posted on April 22, 2016 by jeffpelline

A former colleague of mine when I was Editor at CNET News in San Francisco, Matthew Barzun, is now the U.S. Ambassador to the UK. Here he is greeting President Obama on this week’s visit to London, with his wife Brooke. Matthew is from Louisville, Kentucky, and he introduced me to the greatest restaurant there called Jack Fry’s. I’ve been twice, once with Matthew, and another time later when I went to Louisville for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Good going Matthew! A profile of Matthew is here. (Photo credit: The Guardian)

“College”?!? Former “College”! That’s shameful! Unforgivable….even for a podunk blog like jeffys…and in the headline too! Doesn’t anybody proofread? Shouldn’t they Dig Deeper™? Or are they afraid that a little editorial input will lead to “Burning not Building Bridges”™? “Small town blogs are a hoot”™….”where you can’t make this stuff up”™!

Podunk’s whining again, implying that I used his material in my column in The Union without giving him credit. Here’s a tip, big guy: Just because you write about something first doesn’t you’re the only person–or even the first person–to notice it. But I will give him credit for scooping The Union on the new home of Tripp’s Auto Body. Now that’s news I can use.

Podunk may be back home because my blog readership in Ireland has disappeared. It peaked at 10 hits one day–he must have been really bored.

Yes there is not one real or imagined person in the area he likes. And if criticized he does go off the deep end. I am a crummy speller as I hit “enter” before checking and darn if he doesn’t pick that up. I see he is picking a fight on “Y” people because they did not come to his aid when a neighbor built a granny. The man is truly unlikable.